Abstract: The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee Records consist of 27 cubic feet and span the years 1971-2000. The records
reflect the work of the committee in reviewing legislation pertaining to state and local non-school public employees and public
employee retirement. They are comprised of bill files, hearing files, and notices, rolls, and logs.

Physical Location: California State Archives

Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

For permission to reproduce or publish, please consult California State Archives staff. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, as the owner of the physical
items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication
of materials from the California State Archives' collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California
State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Acquisition Information

The California State Archives acquired the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee records according to state law.

Committee History

The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee was created by Senate Resolution 107 (1974). Prior to 1974, all matters
pertaining to the subject of public employees and retirement were seen by the standing committee on Governmental Organization.
The purpose of the newly created committee on Public Employment and Retirement was to oversee "all bills relating to state
and local non-school public employees and public employee retirement." Most frequently these bills pertained to the structuring
of retirement and disability benefits for retired state teachers, judges, law enforcement officers, and emergency personnel.
Issues such as health benefits, vacation time, and sick leave credits for existing state employees were also addressed. The
first day of existence for the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee was June 13, 1974, the day the new Senate
Rules were read and adopted.

The Committee on Senate Public Employment and Retirement remains a functional standing committee in the California State Senate
and continues to oversee legislation pertaining to public employees and retirement. It is composed of five members. The first
chair was James Wedworth (1975-1976) subsequently followed by Newton Russell (1977-1982), Wadie Deddeh (1983-1984), Dan McCorquodale
(1985-1986), Cecil Green (1987-1993), Teresa Hughes (1994-1996), Adman Schiff (1997-1998), Deborah Ortiz (1999-2000), and
Nell Soto (2000-2006).

Scope and Content

The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee Records consist of 27 cubic feet. The records cover the years 1971-2000.
They are comprised of bill files, hearing files, and notices, rolls, and logs. It is anticipated that the Archives will receive
further records from the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee, as it remains a functional standing committee
in the California State Senate. Researchers might inquire about recently received, unprocessed records of the committee.

The majority of records consist of bill files that cover the years 1971-2000. Committee hearing files span from 1975-1992
and comprise two cubic feet of the collection. Furthermore, there are files from the years 1973-1992 that contain notices,
rolls, and logs.

The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee reviewed many bills that drew public interest since the population of
current and retired government employees in California had a vested interest in the legislation. The correspondence in support
and opposition for bills proved especially fervent in cases involving financial benefits. However, individuals were not the
only followers of the committee's agenda. Several state bargaining units and organizations kept a close watch on the committee's
actions as the bills they addressed held bearing on the lives of their constituencies. These bargaining units and organizations
included, but were not limited to, the State Teachers' Retirement System, Public Employees' Retirement System, California
State Firefighters Association, and Peace Officer's Research Association.

The California State Archives received the records of the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee over a number
of years and archives staff arranged them at various times. While the physical arrangement of the records reflects this variety,
this inventory describes all of the records according to present archival descriptive standards for legislative committee
records. Therefore, the physical arrangement of these records does not necessarily follow the order listed in this inventory.

Arrangement

The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee records are arranged into three series: bill files, hearing files, and
notices, rolls, and logs files.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.